Witch Watch, indie alt-rock, a little angsty with a fresh sound. Let hope the prison line from this song was metaphorical, but possibly it wasn’t. Not a wall of sound, or as much reverb as full-on shoegaze, but you can hear it in there. There are twenty songs in their ambitious double album, I haven’t gotten through all of them, but what I have heard so far I like.
Video – The Hell and the Quiet – Badges
The Hell and The Quiet, quite the name and quite the band. With a solid pop sensibility and strong musicianship, this band has a good thing going. Their new album, To Where and From is out now.
26 MINUTES WITH 26 BATS!: BAILEY COGAN ON THE 7/26 BTTC BENEFIT FOR LAUREN SMYTHE
“As I rise, flames take my flesh and melt my eyes so I can’t see the ruins left behind.”
26 BATS! – “Phoenix”
In this special episode of Back to the City: MPLS Music Conversation, 26 BATS! front-person Bailey Cogan and Simon Calder discuss the band’s “Cave Cuts” LP as well as new material which 26 BATS! will be perform at a Benefit for Lauren Smythe, feat. DJ Rowsheen, MC Mark Mallman, Tacky Annie and more, on the final Thursday of this month, 7/26. Our conversation is all about taking flight, resilience, and cycles of renewal, all fitting topics as we prepare to raise funds for our mutual friend, songwriter Lauren Smythe, who is contending with diseases including scleroderma, with which she was diagnosed at age 10, and fibromyalgia, with which she was just diagnosed.
https://www.facebook.com/events/184787858862607/
Video – Eliza Blue – Song Without Words
Eliza Blue hasn’t been as active musically in the last few years, she has been tending to the ranch, and becoming a mother. She didn’t think she would release any more music, but as musicians know it always brings you back. When Blue was active in the local scene, I always had admired her confident and modern folk songwriting style. Her music has always stood out, and this new song is a perfect example.
Her new album is officially out today. Make sure you check it out. The release party is in Spearfish, SD tonight. Roadtrip!
Featured Photo by – Christian Begeman
BACK TO THE CITY SPOTLIGHT: J.T. VIELE’S OPEN MIC MPLS
By Simon Calder
Every Tuesday night from 8pm JT Viele hosts a special event on the second floor of the moto-i sake brewery. It’s an Open Mic night, at which literally anyone could play literally tomorrow were they / you to text JT on 651-334-3433 any time today (Monday) requesting to perform within a particular hour, and yet it is also one of the best nights of free music one could hope to experience in one of the best music cities on the planet week in and week out. It holds a special place in the heart of Back to the City curator and host Simon Calder, since it happens to have been one of the primary gateways through which he first discovered the twin cities’ rich music scene/s. For instance, Simon fondly remembers many a performance there from one-time regular Thomas Abban, who joined Back to the City for a discussion about his debut LP “A Sheik’s Legacy” shortly before being nominated as the #1 “Picked to Click” act by City Pages’ music contributors at the end of last year:
Simon even had the pleasure of witnessing The Chalice (feat. Lizzo) perform an impromptu set there in early 2013, as discussed with Claire de Lune of tiny deaths (and formerly The Chalice) in one of the earliest episodes of Back to the City, back when it was a radio show on sianetradio.com :
More importantly, JT Viele’s weekly OpenMic MPLS remains a vibrant hub, attracting some of the cities’ most exciting new songwriters, from those who you could be among the first to recognize as the next big thing to Troubadour Wine Bar residency-holders Liam Gerard and Laura Hugo, who just exceeded her kickstarter goal by over $1,000 and who Back to the City expects to be making quite a splash with her debut LP next year:
Ten current regulars from moto-i’s weekly Open Mic will be kicking off this month’s Back the City Showcase with a series of 2-song sets in the 6-8pm Songwriters’ Showcase portion of that evening at Mortimer’s Bar on Thursday July 26th, both because they are some of our strongest new talents in the local music scene and because they wish to harness their talents to help another moto-i regular, songwriter Lauren Smythe, to whom all proceeds from that benefit show will go, for reasons explained on this facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/184787858862607/
This month Back to the City is building up a YouTube playlist spotlighting OpenMic MPLS at moto-i. At present that playlist includes recent performances from two regulars, Chuck Cannon and Ernest Rhodes, both of whom will be performing at Back to the City’s Benefit for Lauren Smythe at the end of this month..
Tomorrow’s OpenMic MPLS will be preceded by a special moto-i rooftop event “In Memory of Jake Allan,” following the tragic loss of songwriter and drummer Jake Allan (Buffalo Fuzz) at the end of last month: https://www.facebook.com/events/271384203597008
For more information about OpenMic MPLS visit openmicmpls.com
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